The Courts

Hours after being sued by the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen for allowing the compounding of cesium chloride, FDA agreed to the group's request in a December 2017 petition that cesium chloride be added to an interim list of bulk drug substances that are unsafe for use in compounding.

Two key health insurance industry lobbies on Thursday urged a court in New Mexico to immediately reconsider its demand that CMS vacate the risk adjustment program, arguing the program's suspension could lead not only to higher premiums and potential market exits, but also could upend other related processes, such as the medical loss ratio calculations that are due at the end of the month.

Senate Democrats are urging their GOP colleagues to back a resolution calling for the Senate to intervene and defend the Affordable Care Act's preexisting conditions protections in the lawsuit brought by 20 GOP-led states challenging the constitutionality of the ACA, but Republicans, who have consistently said they support the consumer protections, have yet to agree to the resolution.

A federal court in California on Wednesday dismissed a case brought by 18 Democratic attorneys general challenging the Trump administration's decision last year to end the ACA's cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers, but the court leaves the door open for the attorneys general to refile their case if HHS moves to block the silver-loading workaround that has made up for the lack of CSRs.

The group of 18 Democratic attorneys general who filed suit after the administration ended cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments last October are now asking the federal court in Northern California to put the case, California v. Trump, on hold so long as a silver-loading work-around continues.

A federal appeals court dismissed hospitals’ lawsuit over cuts to Medicare reimbursement for 340B drugs, again saying the hospitals sued before they had been hurt by the policy.

The ranking Democrats of the Senate and House committees of jurisdiction over health care on Monday (July 16) demanded the Trump administration immediately reverse its decision to halt the Affordable Care Act's risk adjustment program, and sought more information on the timing and justification for the decision, including whether the White House was involved.

Senate health committee Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said he hopes a federal court in New Mexico will decide soon whether CMS can resume the ACA's risk adjustment program to avert further premium hikes.

A lawyer familiar with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and his jurisprudence said the judge, should he be appointed to the high court, would avoid deferring automatically to FDA or other federal regulatory agencies on cases involving matters where Congress has not given clear instructions.